Get Up Out Of Here, Hasbro...

 

...Don't nobody want that Reva LOLSaber!

The trolling was a strong pull towards the dark side for me on this one.

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Star Wars: The Black Series - 40th Anniversary (Hasbro)

Star Wars: The Black Series - 40th Anniversary
Hasbro
2017

Blah, blah, blah, Star Wars. We've seriously touched on so many Star Wars lines at this point is there really anything more we can say about the subject matter beyond, "Hey, here's yet another toy line?" We'll give it a try, but apologize in advance if we start repeating ourselves if we start repeating ourselves.

2017 saw the official 40th anniversary of Star Wars and with it Hasbro came at Star Wars fans with an all new six inch line. What initially started out as an homage to the original twelve back series of 3 3/4 inch figures quickly fizzled into yet another sudden stop line. After just fourteen figures, Hasbo pulled the plug and moved on yet again to the newest film in the franchise, The Last Jedi.

R2-D2*Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi

This was honestly one of the few (new) Star Wars lines we were looking forward to personally collecting. Unfortunately between sparse product being available and the high buy in price not only in retail fashion but more so secondary markets we ended up skipping it. The only figures we ever found at local toy stores were Princess Leia, Darth Vader and the GameStop exclusive R5-D4. Beyond that, nothing. Considering the line was unceremoniously cancelled, we probably dodged a bullet as it would have been yet another incomplete line.

Han Solo*Luke Skywalker

The real shame here is that these figures are far from undesirable. The sculpts are some of the best we've seen in a while. In conjunction with the fun figures never before available in six inch fashion this truly was a highly desired line - At least by us. Let's not forget that fantastic vintage style cardback.

Princess Leia Organa*Chewbacca

So what happened here? Why did Hasbro dump what could have been its most popular line in the longest time? Furthermore, where was the initial stock of product? Unfortunately, nobody really knows. Midway through wave two, collectors found themselves with cancelled orders and undelivered product via channels such as Entertainment Earth. The line simply dried up and vanished literally overnight.

Death Squad Commander*Jawa

Fortunately for fans the second wave did at least see a limited release (somewhere). The figures can still be found via secondary markets and fortunately have not skyrocketed in price just yet - Or rather at least as of this writing.

Sand People*C-3PO

For us, there was at least some form of light at the end of the tunnel. The 40th Anniversary line reminded us just how much we loved the original vintage figures and helped to fuel our desire to track them all down. Readers of The Toy Box have probably already seen those posts for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Power of the Force.

Stormtrooper

Still, there's that underlying hint of disappointment and truthfully is the leading factor in why we collect so few "new" toy lines these days. Too many feel abandoned and as such incomplete. Just as you fully engross yourself into a line you're left with it being cancelled. We've seen this so many times that quite frankly it's just easier to ignore new toys or wait until the line has some "meat" to it before taking the plunge. However, this too can have an adverse effect of certain figures which become rarer and skyrocket on secondary markets. Either way it seems like a no win situation for collectors.

Darth Vader

It also didn't help that the line was made even more so difficult to track down by way of having the ever annoying variable of exclusive figures thrown into the mix. Remember the good old days when figures were released in stores - You know, all of them, and the only challenge you had was deciding which one out of the fifteen to twenty different ones you would settle for when your parents said, "Pick one." We really miss those days. Toy stores these days really aren't fun anymore and more often than not simply lead to disappointment.

When was the last time you walked into one and actually found the figure you were looking for? How many trips did it take you?

Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) Celebration Orlando Exclusive

R5-D4 GameStop Exclusive

There was another revelation for us from our experience with this line. One that actually has been fueling a lot of our buying habits as of late. That revelation - We no longer want to collect current toy lines. Instead, we're going to focus on collections which have come and gone.

Between limited product hitting toy shelves, lines being cancelled at a whim and in general the thrill of the hunt being dead (or more so accurately stated - futile) we simply no longer have any interest. Our efforts are better focused on lines we loved from the 80's which while more costly (in some cases) can still be found in abundance (somewhat) with little more effort than the click of a mouse button.

The Toy Box will still be around and yes we'll still continue to post about great toys which have come and gone. We just won't necessarily be collecting them personally.

Okay...So that didn't turn out to be too bad of an article (if we do say so ourselves).

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Star Wars The Black Series - Phase I (Hasbro)

Star Wars The Black Series - Phase I
Hasbro
2013 - 2014

Today's a big day for Star Wars fans across the United States - Tis the day of a little movie known as Star Wars: The Force Awakens hitting movie theaters. We don't personally have any plans of seeing it on opening day, but will definitely be catching an early showing this weekend. For those of you hitting your local theaters, May the Force Be With You!

For those of us waiting out the crowds, we're here to give you a hand by scratching that Star Wars itch you may be feeling. In honor of the new film, we're presenting one of our most recently made requests from readers - The Black Series Phase I (and in the post below, Phase II).

When Hasbro announced the end of The Vintage Collection, fans were outraged. It was one of (if not the most) popular current lines of Star Wars figures to hit toy isles, and fans were still eagerly buying up all the figures they could find.

Fortunately for fans, Hasbro had a plan - The Black Series. The figures were touted as a line designed for collectors in mind, and would be the first Star Wars series to introduce a six inch scale figure. However, Hasbro wasn't saying goodbye to the 3.75 inch style action figure that made them so popular over the past 30+ years. Far from it. Hasbro was ready to launch with a wave of standard sized figures to coincide with the release of the six inch style ones.

Padme Amidala*Clone Trooper Sergent*Anakin Skywalker*Biggs Darklighter

Luke Skywalker*Darth Vader*Biker Scout*Clone Pilot

R2-D2*Pablo-Jill*Luminara Unduli*41st Elite Corps Clone Trooper

Stormtrooper*Mara Jade*Merumeru*Clone Commander Neyo

The 3.75 line ran for five waves, and though there were some gems to be found, many were figures that fans had already purchased time and time again. As a result, the "newer" figures quickly gained momentum on secondary markets, while the remainder quickly became peg warmers.

Vizam*Darth Plagueis*Mace Windu*Bastila Shan

Luke Skywalker*Yoda*Toryn Farr*Snowtrooper Commander

Dak Ratler*Darth Vader*Jabba's Skiff Guard (Brock Starsher)

Ree-Yees*Wedge Antilles

When Hasbro announced the six inch line of figures, they explained to fans that not only was it their goal to produce higher quality figures in a larger scale, but to also provide new fans with an opening to an all new series that they could get into from the start. The line launched to great success, despite the $20.00 buy in price tag per figure.

Each character contained a variety of accessories - All screen accurate. The sculpting of each figure was also spot on to their onscreen counterpart. In short - The six inch line was a collector's dream come true.

Luke Skywalker*Darth Maul

Sandtrooper*R2-D2

Princess Leia (Jabba's Slave)*Boba Fett

Trooper characters and of course Boba Fett were immediate sellers for the line, and skyrocketed in price on secondary markets - Much to the dismay of many collector's who couldn't find them in stores. Eventually supply started to catch up with demand, but not before many fans got taken to the cleaners by scalpers.

Greedo*Han Solo

Stormtrooper*Obi-Wan Kenobi

Luke Skywalker*Anakin Skywalker

Chewbacca (number 13) was initially planned for a release in Phase I of the Black Series, but ended up being delayed until 2015. The end result was a hole in the series since no figure was produced to fill in for the missing number 13.

Chewbacca (Cancelled)*Clone Trooper

The SDCC Boba Fett with Carbonite Han was technically the first six inch figure to be released. Fans who couldn't attend the convention were left paying upwards of $250.00 - $300.00 to obtain a set. Prices would eventually drop when Boba Fett was released on retail shelves. Though the SDCC version occasionally sells for $250.00 today, it typically hovers between $150.00 and $225.00.

Boba Fett and Carbonite Han (SDCC)

Though this brings us to a conclusion for the Phase I Black Series, keep reading below for Phase II!

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Star Wars The Black Series - Phase II (Hasbro)

Star Wars The Black Series - Phase II
Hasbro
2014 - 2015

We touched on the origin of the series above in our Phase I post, so we'll jump right into Phase II without further delay.

Phase II of the Black Series brought with it a whole new packaging design for the 3.75 inch scale figures, incorporating a pretty cool (if we may say so ourselves) TIE Fighter Pilot motif. Much like Phase I, Hasbro seemed intent on rehashing figures that most collectors had already gotten from prior series. The end result was less popularity for the line, and only three waves between 2014 - 2015. Still, there were some gems to be found. They were just few and far between.

R5-G19*Luke Skywalker*Darth Vader

Darth Malgus*Starkiller (Galen Marek)*Yoda

Darth Vader*Stormtrooper*Captain Rex

Jon "Dutch" Vander*Chewbacca*Clone Commander Wolfe

Clone Commander Doom*Imperial Navy Commander*Commander Thorn

C-3PO*Princess Leia Organa (Boushh)*Mosep Binneed

Han Solo*Jawas

With Phase II came the first vehicle and creature to be released. Both were Toys R' Us exclusives, and contained multiple figures packaged in. Rather than be named after the vehicle or creature, Hasbro instead entitled the sets after the scenes they depicted.

Battle on Endor*Jabba's Rancor Pit

The heart of the line was definitely the six inch figures, which fans went to great lengths to obtain. What was commendable on Hasbro's part was that they re-released the Sandtrooper figure for fans that couldn't get their hands on one in the prior Phase. Unfortunately for those fans, they changed the paint deco, making it just as desirable to those who did get one of the originals. The end result was still a scarce figure.

The packaging was only slightly updated from the Phase I style. Rather than sporting an orange banner up the right side, it now showcased a blue one. This would in turn lead to fans also differentiating the series by the names "orange" and "blue", and not strictly by the Phase number.

Sandtrooper*Darth Vader

Luke Skywalker*Chewbacca

TIE Fighter Pilot*Yoda

Clone Trooper Sergent*Obi-Wan Kenobi

Han Solo*Bossk

Hasbro showed that despite their desire for higher quality figures that they weren't shy of continuing to nickle and dime fans. Han Solo and Luke Skywalker's heads on Stormtrooper bodies was nothing short of a cash grab, and a cheap way on Hasbro's part to pad the series.

Emperor Palpatine*Luke Skywalker

Clone Trooper Captain*Clone Commander Cody

IG-88*Princess Leia Organa (Boushh)

Jabba the Hutt, which initially began as a SDCC exclusive (see below) also made an appearance on store shelves. Unfortunately it didn't include Salacious Crumb - Such as the exclusive did. As such, it wasn't as desirable to fans as the SDCC version.

Jabba the Hutt

Hasbro introduced several deluxe figures which included creatures and vehicles. Detail and care was definitely taken with these, and they remain some of the best pieces in the line.

Speeder Bike with Biker Scout

Han Solo and Tauntaun

Luke Skywalker and Wampa

You know what's a bad idea? Taking two peg warmers, packaging them together, and throwing them back on the shelf. For some reason, both Hasbro and Toys R' Us felt this was a brilliant idea, and that's exactly what they did with Han Solo and Greedo. The end result was a deluxe two pack that sat on shelves until they were clearenced out.

Cantina Showdown

Fortunately other retailers had better ideas when it came to their exclusives.

Imperial Shadow Squadron

Boba Fett

Jabba the Hutt

The Black Series continues with Phase III, which encompasses the new The Force Awakens characters. Based on its current popularity, the series is most likely bound to see a Phase IV and beyond. We'll make sure to catch up with the current and future Black Series lines at a later date.

For those of you who have seen, or are planning on seeing the new film today, have fun! For those of you holding off for the crowds to dwindle a bit - We're right there with you. For those not seeing the film, what's wrong with you?

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